Object number2023.25.6
Joan Didion
Date1977
Artist
Mary Lloyd Estrin
(American, 1944-2020)
CultureAmerican
MediumGelatin silver print, printed later
DimensionsImage: 9 7/8 x 12 3/8 in. (25.1 x 31.4 cm)
Sheet: 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Sheet: 11 x 14 in. (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Credit LineGift from the estate of Mary Lloyd Estrin
On View
Not on viewPeriod20th c
Classification(s)
Vassar Exhibitions
Label TextBorn in 1944 in Libertyville, Illinois, Mary Lloyd Estrin attended Vassar College from 1962 until 1964, later graduating from University of California, Berkeley in 1966. She received a master’s degree in photography from the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1975. Photography was among Estrin’s life-long pursuits, including fifteen years of experience with editorial photography. Her iconic pictures of cultural figures like Joan Didion and Pat Boone, including those seen here, were published in Rolling Stone, Ms., and The New York Times. Her photographs often commented on issues of class privilege and inequality with thoughtful nuance and a wry sense of humor, which complemented and intersected with her work as an advocate for human rights, economic equity, social justice, and nuclear disarmament. After Estrin’s passing in 2020, a selection of her art and editorial photography was generously gifted to Vassar as a tribute to her legacy.
Julia Pippenger ’25 and Jessica D. Brier, Curator of
Photography
DescriptionBlack and white image of a woman, Joan Didion, seated on a bed wearing a floral dress and looking directly at the camera. Books and papers are in a small stack at her left and a large patterned quilt hangs directly behind her.Terms
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